Allegri content with Singapore shutout

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri was satisfied as the Italian Serie A champions closed out their two-week Asia-Pacific tour with a 5-0 win over Singapore Selection in the first football match played at the rebuilt National Stadium.

The Bianconeri barely broke a sweat as they dished out a football lesson in front of 27,338 spectators, stamping their superiority in all departments and claiming their first clean sheet in this tour.

“During this match, the team showed good approach. This was very important and the performance was what I had wanted to see,” the 47-year-old said at the post-match press conference.

“The condition of the field was not perfect, so I had to be careful with my approach on tactics and personnel. In the second half, our defence was stronger than what we showed in the first.”

With no further pre-season friendlies for Juventus ahead of the new season opener at the end of the month, Allegri declared his intention to keep the current squad with domestic and continental commitments coming up.

Chief in his priorities was in keeping both key and fringe defenders.

“I intend to keep all the defenders as we are facing a very important series of matches in the future,” he explained.

“At this level, we need all the defensive options we have. First of all, it will be important for us to get past the first round of the UEFA Champions League. It’s a difficult tournament, so we have to be ready.”

Allegri indicated he had no problems with man-of-the-match Andrea Pirlo, who he had fallen out with at AC Milan, as he looked to build on former coach Antonio Conte's haul of three consecutive Scudetti.

He also insisted Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, who has been subject to intense transfer speculation, would remain at the club and explained why he had rested Argentine striker Carlos Tevez.

“I see Pirlo as the key player for next season and from what I have seen, he has been performing as well as the rest of the team,” Allegri said.

“Vidal will rejoin us next week while I preferred to keep Tevez rested as a precautionary measure as the ground is sandy and I want to avoid further problems with his condition.”